Page 4 of Dark Tidings on the Thames
“Well, that’s just it,” she said. She looked to the letter in her lap. “Beth seems a little more distraught every time she writes. And I’ve been thinking. I might be ready to stop… wallowing. Perhaps it might do me good to get back to at least a bit of normal life.”
Kara exchanged glances with Niall.
He shrugged. “Well, I have finished the extra standing screen that Mr. Blundel added to his order. It would be helpful to get up a meetingin London with my next client.”
“Gyda, are you sure you are ready?” Kara asked gently.
Her friend looked about, taking in the garden, the colonnade, and the house. She nodded. “The quiet here has been exactly what I needed. I needed to think. And feel. I appreciate the chance. Thank you.” Gyda looked between Kara and Niall. “But the quiet is starting to grow loud now. It’s filled with the truth that Charles will never break the silence.” She sighed. “I would like to go back.”
“Then that is what we will do,” Niall said. “But first, we have a stop to make.”
“Where?” asked Harold eagerly.
“Eyemouth,” answered Niall, waving his letter. “I have been meaning to take Kara there, in any case. Now I’ve had a note from Rob, asking to see me.”
“Oh, Rob! We haven’t seen him in too long!” The Highlander was a favorite with Harold. The boy’s eyes widened. “Can we see his forge? The one you sold to him, way back when you were young? You said it was even smaller than the one we have here.”
“It wasn’tthatlong ago that I was young,” Niall said wryly. “But yes.”
“Well, then.” Kara winced at Harold’s shout of joy. “We’d better start packing.”
*
“Spill it, man.”Niall watched his oldest friend shift nervously from one foot to another.
“I mean to sell the place, Niall.” Rob McRae stilled as he looked for Niall’s reaction.
Niall gazed around at the small forge, the very first place he’d owned before he sold it to his friend. “And?”
“And? And I thought you’d be… annoyed. Angry.”
“Rob, this place is yours. You must do with it as you wish.”
“I want you to know what it meant to me,” Rob rushed to say. “You do know. A life of my own, in a place of my own. It’s meant everything to me. I don’t want you to think I am taking this lightly.”
Niall grasped his friend’s shoulder and gave a low laugh. “Odin’s arse, but we were young then, no? Green lads. But things change, aye? I’m certainly not in the same place.”
Rob scoffed. “From a stringy wee gadgie to a duke of the realm? I should say not.”
“Exactly,” Niall said. “Why would you think I would expect you to remain forever the same?”
Rob straightened. “That’s just it. As you said, I don’t mean to be in the same place. I’m making a move.” He paused. “To London.”
Grinning widely, Niall clapped Rob on the back. “Well, why did you not lead with the good news? Saints, but it will be good to see more of you. But what are your plans, man?”
Rob gave a shrug that Niall had seen a thousand times since they were boys—a lift of the shoulder that meant Rob was feeling something strongly, but didn’t wish to show it. “It’s time for a change, aye? I’m ready for something new. And I cannot shake the feeling that smithing is going to be left in the past. Oh, not the way you do it, to be sure. Your sort of art will always be in fashion. But the hooks, and net weights, and spare parts that I spend my days fashioning? They’ll be drummed out by a factory in the Midlands before long.”
“I don’t think we are there yet, but I do know what you mean. What do you mean to do instead?”
“I still want to forge, but I want to add in my woodworking skills, as well. I’ve been talking with Sam Grillow. He’s a furniture maker, but at the top of the scale. He has contracts to fit out some of the fancier hotel rooms in London and even customized train cars. He means to have me working on some of those projects.” Rob shrugged again. “I’ve some ideas he likes the sound of.”
“You’ll be brilliant at it.” Niall had seen some of the custom pieces Rob had fashioned. “He’s lucky to have you. And we will be lucky to get to see you more often.”
“I know you have the priory now, and will be spending time there.”
“Yes. We’ll be splitting our time between London and the priory. The place is shaping up nicely,” Niall said with satisfaction. “It’s quieter there. The pace is slower.” He sobered. “It’s what we needed, these past months.”
“And Gyda? How is she… recovering?”
